Armed forces place 2, 000 crore orders

India's armed forces have placed orders worth over Rs 2,000 crore for specialised equipment and systems to prepare the country against nuclear, biological and chemical weapon strikes.

The equipment and systems to be purchased on fast track, include gear to protect against nuclear and chemical radiation, systems to detect any early threat of nuclear and biological weapons and an advanced medical management system to deal with nuclear fall out, top defence scientist W Selvamurthy said.

"These products are being produced by 30 DRDO and ordnance factories and would be supplied within a period of one year," Selvamurthy, who is the Chief Controller, Research and Design in DRDO said on the sidelines of the annual conference of the Indian Association of Biomedical Scientists in Trichy.

He said the products also include nuclear shelters, specialised protective clothing, ruggedised combat weapons, medicines and preventive drugs.

Over 300 top scientists from across the world are participating in the three-day conference that began on Thursday.

Selvamurthy also said that DRDO had produced Di-Ethyl Phenyl Acetamide (DEPA), which can be used both as body or room spray, to fight epidemics like chikungunya and dengue fever.